global e-flânerie

reposted from Omnivore, Book Forum's splendid blog of links briefly annotated and grouped thematically, adding up to 

A proper philosophy of globalization

From Synthesis Philosophica, Zagorka Golubovic (Belgrade): Philosophical Principles as a Foundation of the Concept of Globalisation; Arto Mutanen (Lappeenranta): About the Possibility of a Proper Philosophy of Globalization; Tomas Kacerauskas (VGTU): Discourse of Globalization: Bios, Techne, and Logos from the Phenomenological Point of View; Tomaz Grusovnik (Primorska): A Distant View: Globalization Inside Philosophy; Bela Mester (HAS): Space and Time in a Global World; Vojko Strahovnik (Ljubljana): Globalization, Globalized Ethics and Moral Theory; Mislav Kukoc (Spli): Liberal Philosophy and Globalization; Dragica Vujadinovic (Belgrade): Global Civil Society as Concept and Practice in the Processes of Globalization; and Gottfried Kuenzlen (UniBw): The Other Side of Globalisation: The New Power of Religion as a Cultural and Political Challenge. From the Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, James Brassett (Warwick):Cosmopolitan Sentiments After 9-11: Trauma and the Politics of Vulnerability; Nick Srnicek (LSE): Conflict Networks: Collapsing the Global into the Local; Victoria Ridler (Birkbeck): Word and World: The Imperium of Reason and Possibility of Critique; and a roundtable discussion on Transnational Militancy in the 21st Century. Are nations going extinct? Our conception of what constitutes a "country" is deteriorating — say hello to post-national entities, "other guys" that stand outside of the dominant system. Beyond city limits: The age of nations is over — the new urban age has begun. A review of Tax Havens: How Globalization Really Works by Ronen Palan, Richard Murphy, and Christian Chavagneux. From Newsweek, a special section on the world's best countries. World's Happiest Countries: Bhutan started the gross national happiness trend, but here's what Gallup did with it. From Foreign Policy, an article on the geopolitics of Google Earth: It's not just for busting swimming pool cheats.

An Existential View of Personal Blogs in Cyberspace

Arash writes, "Without the reader, the blog would not exist." I blog therefore I am... or what? Is then the world a blog or vice versa?

Arash's World: The Author-Reader Relationship: An Existential View of Personal Blogs in Cyberspace

are we obsolete?

Selected links to articles and websites, thought provoking and entertaining. A brief sampler:

The ideals of inclusivity and diversity are losing ground in the general public. Joel Kotkin on the changing demographics of America.... Michael Lind on the fantasy of a vast upper middle class: College isn't for everyone, neither is the stock market.... From New Politics, what happened to the American working class? .... The richest few don't need the rest of us as markets, soldiers or police anymore.

Are the American people obsolete? - links from bookforum.com / omnivore

PS ~ when I get a handle on regular schedule, an appropriate if thinly veiled anonymization, apps to facilitate clipping for post content and the like, I'll saunter back into the public domain.

Media Matters

Links from a guilty pleasure blog

I have some thoughts fermenting in my mind about the recent surge of "blood and soil" nationalism in this country, from the birthers to the recent law in Arizona to all the talk of "real America," but it'll be awhile before they coalesce into something worth reading. For now I'll offer some links for your edification.


First off, I have to thank Chauncey DeVega for tipping me off to this brilliant piece in New York magazine detailing Sarah Palin's political grifting.

In case you didn't know, the new law in Arizona  was written with the help of someone connected to white supremacist extremists. The principle author, Russell Pearce, likes to hang out with neo-Nazis. My worst fears are coming true: these fascists (these are the real kind!) have used the Tea Party movement to move from the fringe to the mainstream.

When I feel like getting my 80s on, " Suddenly Last Summer" by The Motels always gets the job done. "Bette Davis Eyes" does too, though more the reverby guitars than the airy synths.